The Trail Was My Medicine: Movement, Fresh Air, and a Clearer Mind

For twenty-five years, a three-mile nature trail at Memorial Park in Houston has been my running space. Morning, midday, or late evening, it has not mattered. That trail has given me more clarity and peace than almost anywhere else. It is, in the truest sense, my meditation space.

So when I tell you that movement and fresh air have been part of my healing, I am speaking from a lifetime of it.

I had to learn to move again

Before my accident, I was a runner. I had finished one marathon and was training for another the morning I was hit. Running was not just exercise for me. It was part of who I was.

After the injury, I could not take any of that for granted. I had to relearn how to walk, and then how to run, one wobbly step at a time. My husband Raul would coach me at the local high school track, and I kept a simple log of it. A lap here, a short run there, slowly building back. Movement was both the thing I had lost and the thing that helped carry me home to myself.

What moving did for my mind

Here is what I noticed along the way. Moving my body did something for my brain that sitting still never could.

On the days I could get outside and move, even gently, my head felt clearer and my mood lifted. When the world had been too loud or too bright, movement helped settle the overstimulation. I am a fan of hot yoga for the same reason. The combination of gentle movement, breath, and a calm space seemed to clear the pathways in my mind and bring me back to myself.

The simple gift of fresh air

It did not always have to be a run or a class. Sometimes it was just being outside.

I remember, early in my recovery, feeling trapped and claustrophobic in my hospital room. My sister Pauline saw it in my eyes and quietly wheeled me outside, just for a few minutes. I took big, deep breaths of fresh air, and for those few minutes, I felt free. It was one of the great small blessings of that time. I have believed ever since that fresh air and the sight of a little nature are good medicine for a healing brain, even in small doses.

Start gentle, and meet your body where it is

I want to be careful here, because this is not about pushing hard or chasing the person you used to be. My own body is different now. I have to be mindful, even walking my dogs, since one strong tug on the leash can throw off my balance. Movement after a brain injury is not about intensity. It is about gently giving your body and mind a chance to move, breathe, and reset.

I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. Please move in whatever way is safe and right for you, and check with the people guiding your care. This is only what the trail, and the fresh air, did for me.

Noticing what restores you

This is part of why the Sunrise app lets you note your movement and your time outdoors, right alongside how you feel. Not as one more thing to push yourself on, but so you can gently notice the connection. Which days you got outside. Which days you moved a little. And how those days tended to feel.

For me, the answer was almost always the trail, and the sky, and a few deep breaths of morning air. I hope you find your own version of that, and that it brings you the same quiet peace it has brought me.